FOXBOROUGH — In football, everyone gets humbled at some point or another. Even the greatest to ever do it.
That appeared to be the point Bill Belichick reached on Monday night as he watched the Buffalo Bills — an afterthought in the AFC East for the past 20 years — come into Gillette Stadium and completely dominate his team 38-9. That defeat handed Belichick his first losing season since 2000, and ensured the Patriots were swept for the first time by a divisional opponent since that same year (twice by the Dolphins and Jets).
Offensively, defensively and, yes, even on special teams, the Bills completely dominated the Patriots.
“They outplayed us across the board, outplayed us and out-coached us,” Belichick said.
That doesn't happen by accident. It doesn't happen just because of challenged quarterback play, or with some Covid opt-outs. No, that only happens when the other team has their stuff together, including a little luck — the Bills' top three receivers, two tackles and running back have played in every game, and the top tight end missed just three.
And it happens because you've hit on your personnel moves a hell of a lot more than you've missed, especially in the draft. Because, as we've seen with the Patriots, augmenting a roster with additions really doesn't matter if you don't have a young nucleus to build around and free up some cap space.
Bills general manager Brandon Beane has basically knocked it out of the park since he got the position in 2017.
By no coincidence at all, that's when the Patriots' personnel struggles crested.
The two paths intersected on Monday night and that's how you get a blowout loss before the third quarter is even over on New England's hallowed ground with all those banners as a backdrop.
If you're a Patriots fan, you're hoping the horror show everyone witnessed will propel Belichick to fix the fundamental issues with his football program and ignite a quick turnaround.
Bill Belichick is not happy.
(via @NFLBrasil)pic.twitter.com/Uvq33foTnc
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 29, 2020
